Tiger skin, canines seized in Chanda village; six arrested

Chandrapur: A team of foresters from central Chanda division late on Monday night seized a tiger skin from Gondpipri village and arrested six people involved in wildlife trade. Forest officials suspect that the tiger is likely to have been poached in Gadchiroli.
Sources said the officials received a tip-off about two people in Gadchiroli having a tiger skin in their possession. Acting on the information, they set up a trap by approaching the wildlife traders posing as decoy customers.
It took nearly a month to lure the accused to come out with the tiger skin. “Finally, a deal was fixed to purchase tiger skin and other body parts for Rs 60 lakh. As per the deal, five people came on bikes to Gondpipri with the tiger skin and other body parts late on Monday night. Lurking joint team of forest mobile squad and Dhabha forest range immediately rounded up all five,” said sources, adding a tiger skin, four canines and bunch of whiskers, along with mobiles of the accused and bikes were seized.
During interrogation, the accused claimed they were not involved in the poaching and revealed the name of a person from Bhamragarh from whom they had received the tiger skin. They have been identified as Bandu Badde and Sudhakar Nimma from different villages in Bhamragarh tehsil and Sandeep Sadmake, Subham Dorle and Rakesh Dongre from Aheri and villages around.
Forest officials have mobilized teams in search of the main accused from Bhamragarh, who was allegedly involved in the poaching. Sources did not rule out the possibility of more accused being involved in the poaching.